"Yet the scientific endeavour is a human endeavour. Of the infinite number of experiments that we might perform, surely our human sense of what is important helps narrow the selection. Of the infinite number of ways that we might imagine a process, surely our human culture and language help provide the images and metaphors at our disposal. In the understanding of new results, surely our own world view plays a role Science aims for an impersonal and objective truth, but the search for that truth is a human activity."
Lightman, 1994
A topic in teaching science
An authentic science education asks learners to both learn about some specific scientific ideas and also to learn something of the nature of science – the practices of scientists and the processes by which new scientific knowledge is constructed and developed. There are a number of nature of science (sometimes abbreviated to 'NOS') themes that might be thought important to teach young people about.
Read more about teaching the nature of science
One of these themes is science as a human activity. It is easy to see science as something that is logical, technical, systematic, sometimes algorithmic (and it can be all these things) but the people doing the science will inevitably bring their own individual, and shared human, natures to the work: "scientists are human with all the usual flaws. They may cling to their pet theories in the face of contrary evidence. They often seek professional advancement if not financial rewards. Some covet awards and titles and prestigious honours. Sometimes some scientists may show prejudice – towards their close colleagues, or to their co-nationals, or against those of different faith or ethnicity" (Taber, 2017: 33).
Life story
The history of science offers a great many examples of where decisions were made which were inflected by personal factors. A well known examples is the so-called 'race for the structure of D.N.A.' (a 'race' in which at least one of the competitors did not wish to compete and so was not racing) – as illustrated for example in the excellent BBC Horizon film Life Story (starring Juliet Stevenson, Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith and Alan Howard) scripted by William Nicholson:
"As well as relating to a iconic scientific discovery this work has been much documented. It illustrates the extent of co-operation within science (with and between institutions: Crick, Watson, Wilkins) as well as competition (again within and between institutions: Wilkins with Franklin; Crick and Watson, with Pauling). It reveal how prejudices, friendships, and chance, can play a role in science. It also reveals how science can proceed through examining mistakes (such as Linus Pauling's three strand structure for DNA) and through the interaction between creative exploration and tedious laboratory work (relating results from Franklin's meticulous preparation and analysis of X-ray photographs to Crick's theoretical work on helical diffraction and Watson's exploratory model building)" (Taber, 2017: 33)
Work cited:
- Lightman, Alan (1994), Introduction, in Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, The Modern Library: New York.
- Taber, K. S. (2017). Reflecting the nature of science in science education. In K. S. Taber & B. Akpan (Eds.), Science Education: An International Course Companion (pp. 23-37). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. [Download the author's manuscript version of the chapter.]
